Messi's wonder-round

Messi's career achievements are awe-inspiring. At 25, he still has not peaked and is smashing his way through the historic records of world football. This season he has already scored 28 goals in the 20 Spanish league games he has played.

Messi is in a position to beat his own record from last season, which was for 50 Liga goals, a total that won him the 'Pichichi' and the Golden Boot with the best statistics of all time for both awards. If his average continues as it is, he could rack up 55 goals this season.

His goal tallies are so overwhelming that he is leaving the top scorers in la Liga's history for dust. He only needed one round to reach the total which 80 percent of previous Pichichis have managed in a whole Liga season. Or, to put it another way, of the 88 top scorers since the 1928-29 season, only 19 have won the individual award with more than 28 goals, the Argentine player's current haul.

Messi, however, has 18 matches ahead of him to keep on scoring. If he is successful this Sunday against Osasuna, he will leave four more top goalscorers in his wake (Maakay, Bebeto, Hugo Sánchez and Krankl), who won the Pichichi with 29 goals.